Gimlet Off the Map/plot
Chapter I: Dangerous Journey An expedition led by the noted professional orchid collector Banford in the jungles of British Honduras has met with disaster. Seven of his eight men, all expert hunters, had gone out into the jungle to collect orchids and had failed to return. Going after them, Banford only found one man. He had been shot by a bullet and died shortly thereafter, muttering incoherently about white men in the jungle lighting big fires to burn stones. Left with only one porter, Jose, Banford barely made it back to the capital Belize and was sent back to Britain to recover his health. In Banford's report, he also noted a change in attitude of the local Indian tribesmen. Where once friendly, they had become sullen and hostile. Banford's report is worrying to the authorities and Gimlet is asked to investigate. There is not much to go on. Banford opined that the "white men" seen by his porter could have been treasure hunters. The fabled lost city of Uaxatikel was in the area and so was the so-called Carmichael treasure (see Biggles in the Jungle). Chapter II: A Jungle Tragedy Gimlet and co., accompanied by Jose and four other boatmen, make their way up the river. They arrive at the hut of a chicle collector but he is dead, apparently killed by an axe. (Compare this with the discovery of the dead rubber collector in Chapter 8 of The Cruise of the Condor). They reach and set up camp at an abandoned Indian village at the confluence of two rivers. This was Banford's original base camp where the tragedy occured. Cub thinks he hears an aircraft in the distance. Chapter III: First Reconnaissance Venturing into the jungle on a first reconnaissance, they find a jungle path and then a stone pyramid. It looks like they are near Uaxatikel. Further om there is another pyramid and beyond it, some columns of smoke. The story of the dying porter about "burning stones" begins to sound plausible. Chapter IV: Cub Falls Out The next morning, Gimlet asks Jose to call out to any Indians who might be watching them. Jose succeeds in meeting with Tagum, son of a chief who was a friend of Banford's. Tagum had come to warn Banford to go away because the place was haunted by an evil spirit. It had a big white face and came from the path leading to the pyramids. His tribe abandoned their village because of this. At the end of the path, Tagum says there are white men who "make powerful medicine with fire and stones". Gimlet gives Tagum some presents and assures him that they would drive out the evil spirits. Leaving Jose to watch the camp, Gimlet, Copper, Trapper and Cub head out towards the pyramids. At the pyramid near where they saw columns of smoke, Trapper goes up to survey the scene. He has seen plenty. There is a vast cleared area, a tractor, a sawmill, a concrete mixer and bee-hive shaped structures spewing smoke. Gimlet decides to go up to see for himself. He asks Cub, who is feeling unwell, to stay at the base of the pyramid. Left to himself, Cub begins to feel dizzy and collapses. He is carried away by some men. Chapter V: Copper Gets a Fright Still puzzled by what they had seen, Gimlet, Copper and Trapper come down from the pyramid to find Cub missing. They search fruitlessly for an hour but darkness is falling and they have to return to camp. Copper suggests that he stay behind in case Cub comes back. Gimlet and Trapper can go back to camp and bring food and supplies to set up a forward base the next day. Copper settles down to what must be a long vigil. Late at night, Copper has a fright when he spots a large white face bouncing down the path. Later he realises with annoyance it must be some kind of trick. Spirits do not make a noise while moving. Chapter VI: Copper Gets His Own Back At dawn, Copper sees a man heading back carrying a large white piece of cardboard. This must have been the trickster. Gimlet and Trapper turn up with supplies and they set up a dump in a chamber under the pyramid. They were delayed because "a spirit" had spooked their porters and they spent some time rounding them up. Gimlet wants to reconnoitre the concrete works by night, but their camp would be unguarded. What if their porters are "spooked" again? Copper suggests using a spook to counter a spook. He collects a stone obelisk with a face on it. He then crushes some match heads into a paste--the phosphorus in them would glow. Copper paints crude eyes and a mouth on the stone. Copper's spook is covered with a handkerchief and ready for action. As night falls, they spot the white face approaching. Copper yanks off the cover and gives a hoarse moan. There are screams and threshing and then the sound of flying feet. It looks as they have scared off the other "spook". Time to advance. Chapter VII: Cub Learns a Few Things Cub wakes up to find himself in a bed. There's a black man watching the door. He turns out to be George, one of Banford's porters. He escaped the shooting and sought refuge with an Indian tribe but some men came and forced the tribe and himself to work for them. So far he had kept his identity secret. A Major Borloff and Professor Andrewski also comes to visit. They claim to be archaeologists excavating Uaxatikel. Cub plays along and pretends that he is also a scouting party searching for the same ruins. Before leaving, Borloff advises Cub to rest and he would show him around the excavations later. A group of Indians, armed to the teeth, are seen approaching Borloff's bungalow. George finds out that Borloff has mustered his force of Indian allies (who he keeps friendly by supplying rum) for an attack on Cub's camp. Gimlet must be warned! But Cub discovers that Borloff had taken his clothes and shoes so he is effectively trapped. George is most reluctant to go because of the "evil spirits" on the path but is finally persuaded to do so. All too soon, George comes running back. He has met the spirits on the path, two of them! There is nothing for it. Cub must go himself. He tears his bedsheet into strips to wrap around his feet and prepares to depart. Chapter VIII: Cub Makes a Move Cub needs a light so he creeps with George to the Major's bungalow hoping to steal one. On the way, he makes more discoveries. There is a vast concrete platform on the ground. This explains the bee-hive structures--they are lime kilns for making cement! At the Major's bungalow, Cub there is a commotion outside. A party of Indians come running to the front of the house. The Major and his companions come out to meet them. The Indians had been sent down the path to Gimlet's camp but retreated, claiming they saw "spirits". The Major is angry. He will ask Max (apparently a brutal overseer) to lead them out again. At least the bungalow is now empty. Cub climbs through a window and helps himself to a jacket, a lamp, his own rifle and revolver. George refuses to follow Cub down the path because of the "spirits" so Cub goes alone. Chaspter IX: Gimlet Takes a Hand Approaching Borloff's camp, Gimlet and co. take cover when a party of armed Indians pass by. It looks bad--they must be on the way to attack their base camp. But before long, the Indians come rushing back with yells and screams. Copper is delighted that his "spook" has worked again! They see someone else going down the path but don't realise it is Cub. They discover the same concrete platform Cub found and several more. To Copper they look like gun emplacements. No, Gimlet corrects him, they are rocket launching platforms. British Honduras was inside the perimeter of the bases defending the approaches to the Panama Canal. A secret rocket base here would allow an enemy to attack and disorganise the defences of the canal in the rear. There is a loud yell and Gimlet moves to investigate. They find George being tied up and Borloff about to whip him. Gimlet steps forward and orders Copper to cut him free. George tells all about himself, and what happened to Cub. All is now clear. An Indian tries to shoot an arrow at Gimlet. There is a brief fire fight. Borloff and his companions retreat into their bungalow. Gimlet decides to leave them and pull back to base camp. According to George, Max is leading some Indians to attack it. They must try to intercept them. Chapter X: Preparing for Trouble Meanwhile, Cub makes it back to camp where a quick bath and some food revives him. But the Indians led by Max are coming and he must prepare a defence. The porters want to take the canoe and run off but Cub forbids it. Instead he gets them to agree to move the stores, tent and canoe to a rocky island in the middle of the river. It's a more defensible position and the rocks there would prevent them from being seen. They make the move but Cub asks Jose stay on the mainland and hide in a tree by the path to warn Gimlet before he walks straight into the Indians Chapter XI: Trouble in Plenty A storm breaks out and the river begins to rise. It would prevent the Indians crossing over but, on the other hand, the island might be submerged! The Indians led by Max arrive at the village. Cub spots an Indian drawing a bow on the roof of a hut overlooking the entrance of the jungle path. Trapper is at the head of the path but doesn't see his danger. Cub shoots the Indian and is satisfied to see Trapper disappear. Chapter XII: Commando Methods Gimlet arrives near the village and meets Jose who tells him what happened. Trapper goes forward to scout and they hear Cub's rifle shot. With the river in flood, they have no way of getting to Cub for some time, but, equally, he and the porters will be safe. So Gimlet decides to head back to the pyramid where they have a dump of food. At the pyramid, a quick survey of Borloff's camp reveals that a large four engine aircraft has arrived. Of course, that's how the equipment is brought in! Borloff and co. might evacuate that night. To prevent this, Gimlet stages a commando raid on the camp to shoot up the tires of the plane. The party bivouacs at the pyramid for the night, intending to return to the village in the morning. Chapter XIII: A Tight Corner Cub and the porters pass the night anxiously. By daybreak, the Indians prepare to leave the village but then a flock of birds descend on the island and reveals Cub's position to them. The Indians begin showering the island with poison arrows. Most fall short but some come uncomfortably close. Cub is not sure how long he can hold out. Worse, the river is falling and before long, the Indians could try to get across. Then some of the Indians stagger and fall down. Max shoots at something and then shoots himself dead. Jose then appears and calls to Cub to cross over. Tagum and his tribe have come to the rescue and have killed the hostile Indians. Cub crosses over in time to stop Gimlet and co. who, not knowing that the remaining Indians in the village are friendly, are about to attack. Chapter XIV: How It All Ended The expedition returns safely to Belize where Gimlet makes his report. Engineers are sent to demolish the rocket launching platforms. There is no sign of the occupants except for a skeleton matching Borloff who had, apparently, shot himself. Category:Plot summaries